Callahan Out as NU Coach

I'm a big fan of the spread but only because I like running the option and read out of it. Nebraska needs to go back to its roots and run 'I' and become a rushing power house again. Should never have changed in the first place.

Dave, just wanted to let you know that if you guys do indeed approach Pelini for the HC job, you should do it RIGHT NOW, as I can guarantee you that if Bo announced today he was leaving LSU to take the NU job, he wouldn't have to wait 10 min to have over 1,000 volunteers to pack his house and ship him out.

This is the reason I am fairly certain that Miles going to Michigan is now a serious possibility, if not a probability.

Word on the street is that Bo Pellini has the inside track to the job...

5...4...3...2...

.

Actually I don't consider it being a "change in scheme"....They ran it forever up until Callahan came along.

I don't agree with the argument that you have to recruit from the offense you want to run. Any good running back (D1 recruit) can be a RB in the I option game. The only position where it would help to have experience in the option is the QB and now a days alot of HS teams are either still running a type of option game or run a type of option out of the gun. It's not that hard.


If Navy can be successful at what they do with the talent they have Nebraska can make a comeback woth the I option very easily.

[There is no venom in words or implied in this thread. From Budgetary standpoint NU has consistently been second to Texas over the past decade and has fan support unparalleled evidenced by consecutive sellouts for over 45 years or the fact at many away games the NU fans make up over 1/3 of the crowd,
( even at the Notre Dame and USC games) For most teams like KU or MU it's big news when they sellout a single game or even have a winning season or go to a Bowl game, for others like NU it is earth shattering news when those things dont happen.

There have always been one hit wonders one-three year spikes in the conference. CU won a National Title and Played for another, KU, KSU, OSU and MU have had top 20 and even top 10 seasons here and there. According to most experts, NU has good talent. If KU, MU and Boisie can get it, no reason why NU cant do the same. If it's primarily a Jimmies and Joes world, what is proposed by many is" "Good players and good facilities= good teams". If that premise is true, then there shouldnt be any problem having consistently competitive teams here.

Osborne has said NU needs an identity it lost under BC, something his former coaching adversaries told him from Colorado and Oklahoma. HE said he didnt mean that the new regime had to run "wishbone or I-option" but that teams no longer feared NU or were feeling the effects of playing us 2-3 weeks later. There is "something missing, a lack of instensity, something underlying because we have good players". Aaron Taylor former 97 Outland trophy winner said after watching the team and studying film, said " What shocked me was the utter lack of good fundamentals. In the NFL they expect you to know this stuff coming in, in College the kids have to be developed".
My guess is the same goes for the lack of any meaningful contact in practices etc.

OU and Ohio State and others continue to dominate in College Football just like 5,10,20,30,40 years ago. NU plays in NAtional Title games in January of 1998 and January of 2002, College football has not changed that much since then, what changed was our coaching staff, priorities and approach to the game. During that time frame the facilities and player quality improved as well. what didnt improve was the W/L ratio and in fact a wholesale drop off in competitiveness by using nearly any measuring stick.

Osbornes press conference:
www.journalstar.com/media/view/?mid=M4748650c9627d

He starts off by saying he hated to be in a postion to judge anyone and obviously is pained by the process. He had only fired 2 people in 25 years of coaching. Very cool, off the cuff and down to earth. Starting QB Joe GAnz" It's part of football. Coach Osborne is a legend, he knows what he is doing and will get the right coaching staff in here to get the job done. The team has all the confidence in the world in Coach Osborne". Seems like the players are ready for a change as well under the covers.

For me the underlying interesting question is what does it take to be a consistently competiitive ( top 20) team in College football? I like to know the same answer at the High School and Youth level as well and thats why I really like studying those consistently dominant programs as well as the ones that consistently do poorly also.

Amazing what 2 years of good coaching can make at a program. Buffalo won 5 games total in the 4 years prior to Gill getting there. They won 5 this season and pressed for a Division Title. If the players and facilties are evening out as you suggest, I guess the differentiator is coaching and scheme ;D

The coaching quest started yesterday with Osborne and Perlman stopping in Baton Rouge via Private plane and talking to Pelini for 2 1/2 hours, then on to Atlanta for the night.

Speculation is they are looking at Kelly and Grobe. NU has permission to talk to Gill from Buffalo and they are interviewing him today or tommorrow. My guess is this will be settled quickly, not the 45 day fiasco last time that saw the former AD gasping at straws. His first choice was Wannstead ( said no) and it looks like he isnt going to cut it as a HC at the college level either.

Here's a "coaching" question: How do you account (and is there any truth) to the notion that a particular program (HS or college) is a smashmouth or running team, and can't be converted to being a "passing school" etc. I guess it gets into the limits of tradition. I tend to think that USC did pretty well as a "passing school" with Palmer/Leinert as it did as Tailback U, but these are questions. It comes up a lot at Nebraska.

I have seen passing coaches get brought down by taking over high-profile HS teams that had a "tradition" of running. There are practicalities of getting your players ready to catch the football. When Mumme/Leach took over Kentucky Bill Curry had built up an option/power team (though they had Tim Couch). Somewhat similarly Leach took over Texas Tech which had been a fairly power oriented team under Spike Dykes.

Anyway, just curious what your thoughts are. It seems clear to me that Osborne is not looking to hire Mike Leach for this job.

I know this time of the year, we are all checking the espn ticker to see who got whacked from their current ncaa or nfl job, but lets just remember that this board is about football coaching X and O's, not a rivals.com football fan board.